[whatwg] [html][webcomponents]: Link element in body?

Tue Mar 19 09:27:54 PDT 2013

On 3/19/13 11:18 AM, Brian Kardell wrote:
> Section 4.2.4 of the HTML Standard[1] contains a note:
> "Note: If the rel attribute is used, the element is restricted to the
> head element. When used with the itemprop attribute, the element can
> be used both in the head element and in the body of the page, subject
> to the constraints of the microdata model."

That's an authoring requirement, like pretty much everything to do with 
element content models.

As in, if you have a <link> without itemprop but with rel inside <body> 
your HTML validator will complain at you (and chances are your page will 
end up with FOUC and whatnot, which is why this is not something the 
spec makes valid).

> However, all modern browsers at least seem to respect/treat rel link
> elements in the body as most developers would expect (ie, they work
> just fine).

Yes, and the spec requires that behavior.  Note that 
http://www.whatwg.org/specs/web-apps/current-work/multipage/semantics.html#concept-link-obtain 
says nothing about where the <link> is located.  You could stick it as a 
child of the <html> (or even as the documentElement) and that algorithm 
would still run.

> Is it worth opening a bug or am I missing something important?

The spec lists UA implementation requirements and authoring 
requirements.  Generally speaking, the UA requirements define processing 
of all input, including input that is not valid per the authoring 
requirements.

-Boris